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In the film, The Nice Guys (2016) (not recommending!), Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling crash a Porn King's party and it is a 70's delight.

I thought this would be a Los Angeles location, but I was surprised to learn that this architectural novelty is in Atlanta, and owned by music producer Dallas Austin. The house has infamously been rented to pop stars like Justin Bieber, Pink, Boyz II Men, Brandy, Monica, Lenny Kravitz, etc. It has been used in other films, like What To Expect When Your Expecting (can't say I remember it in that one).

It felt rude to write about such bonkers real estate without crediting the architect, but turns out the architect is a whole other story.....

Michael Czysy died this past May from cancer. He was in his early 50s.

After design school, his architecture career advanced swiftly, and he did projects like a W Hotel, homes for Lenny Kravitz and Cindy Crawford, etc. But then, in his 40's, he decided he was done with architecture, and wanted to learn how to design racing motorcycles. He was very successful. His obituaries call him a Visionary Motorcycle Designer, and barely reference the architecture faze of his life.

The Danish Girl (2015), a film about a transgender pioneer, is stunning from top to bottom, beginning to end, but what interests me is how architecture is used to represent the mindset of characters. Just as it is commonplace to have villains living in modern architecture, in The Danish Girl, the most progressive Parisian thinkers surround themselves in Art Nouveau. This art style was most popular between 1890 and 1910, making sense for The Danish Girl timeline, which takes places in the 1920's.

The first time we see Art Nouveau is when Gerda Wegener (the wife) visits her husband's childhood friend, thinking he could be an ally in a murky trans-world. Well, you can tell by his entryway that she was right!

She walks through his Art Nouveau door, into his Art Nouveau office, with his Art Nouveau furnishing, to beholds his sexy progressive thinking face.

And this is the dumbstruck face I would make if I was bombarded with this much architectural beauty, only to find that the owner was cut from marble.

Next thing Gerda knows, he is taking her to an Art Nouveau cafe.....

...and an Art Nouveau party...

....but she is still having a hard time with the whole trans thing, so she gets emotional and goes back to his place. Luckily she is able to have a good sit in his Art Nouveau stairwell.

Finally he recommends a progressive minded doctor who is not dismissive of Gerda's husbands cross dressing. The couple meets the doctor at a cafe, of sorts. The scene plays like it is in another location, but it is clearly filmed in Sexy Man's house.

In Los Angeles, indoor/outdoor flow is important. Outside temperatures circle room temperature, and we have few bugs, so people want to leave their doors and windows open. I am a big fan of french doors/garage doors/pocket doors/etc, but now I have my eye on pivot doors. Fabulous!

Across from the Hilton Vienna (where I live) there is a buildings with a long concrete cantilevered roof and tree growing through it. There is a good chance the building is part of the design college complex that is in the area.

Clearly this was a design choice, and I like it. It feels good to be in a space that tips it's hat to nature--be it a mighty ol' oak or something planted after the construction. There is something about seeing a tree, that is as an obvious tare-down, be spared.